State misses deadline to report Start-Up NY progress

The state missed its self-imposed deadline of Friday to issue an annual progress report on Start-Up NY, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s controversial program of tax-free zones on college campuses for technology companies.

Empire State Development, the agency that oversees Start-Up NY, had expected to release the report on Friday, the start of the state’s new fiscal year.

The report covers 2015 and includes information about the number of companies enrolled in Start-Up NY, how many people they have hired and how much they have invested in operations.

“‎With many new businesses that are reporting for the first time, ‎we are finalizing the Start-Up NY report and it will be released soon,” Empire State Development spokesman Jason Conwall said Friday.

Last year’s report, which met the deadline, sparked controversy because it showed only 54 companies were enrolled in Start-Up NY in its first year and 76 jobs were created. Critics said the results were poor given that the state had spent millions of dollars on television commercials to promote Start-Up NY.